The economy just got real

[noodleoo]

My company laid off 2 full time employees yesterday. There was no warning, we had no idea the company was having financial issues. We're a small company, 2 employees are 15% of our company. One was very senior, had been here 6 years, the other 2 years. They were just gone at lunch and an email notified the rest of us. No one got to say goodbye. I'm incredibly depressed about it and pretty worried about the company/my job. I just can't believe they didn't warn us that things weren't going well before they got rid of long time employees.

This sucks.

[raangoli]

That sucks, I am really sorry.

[chessie]

That does suck..That is one reason why i hate my job the most, I get a list w hen they do the lay offs.

[noodleoo]

Nov 28, 2012 10:56:24 GMT -5 chessie said:

That does suck..That is one reason why i hate my job the most, I get a list w hen they do the lay offs.

Is it normal in a layoff for people to leave immediately and not come back? I've never been somewhere with layoffs but I was surprised. It is really hard to transfer the work seeing as no one got a chance to talk to the employees before they left. One didn't pack up his office, he just left. The admin packed it up and dropped it off at his house. it is like he's not allowed back in the building. It seems horrible cruel. I talked to both in the morning and they obviously had NO idea this was coming.

[limey]

Sorry, that sucks.

At the two Fortune 500s that I worked for, they made you leave immediately for fear of retaliation, either verbal or physical. They always disable your network accounts and badges immediately as well.

[chessie]

Nov 28, 2012 11:05:04 GMT -5 noodleoo said:

Nov 28, 2012 10:56:24 GMT -5 chessie said:

That does suck..That is one reason why i hate my job the most, I get a list w hen they do the lay offs.

Is it normal in a layoff for people to leave immediately and not come back? I've never been somewhere with layoffs but I was surprised. It is really hard to transfer the work seeing as no one got a chance to talk to the employees before they left. One didn't pack up his office, he just left. The admin packed it up and dropped it off at his house. it is like he's not allowed back in the building. It seems horrible cruel. I talked to both in the morning and they obviously had NO idea this was coming.

I been through quite a few here..and the deal is if its a large one, more security is called in. The people are called into HR, or if there is not one around, to their managers and they are let go, given a box with a guard and then escorted off property after they receive their package. Its a security thing though. As soon as they term them as their manager tells them we have to turn off all their building access, accounts for anything IT related, etc.

[noodleoo]

Ok, I guess it is normal. Sigh. I just feel so bad for them. And the mood here is very depressing. And I'm pretty sure if they have to layoff anyone else, I'm next.

[chessie]

Nov 28, 2012 11:11:25 GMT -5 noodleoo said:

Ok, I guess it is normal. Sigh. I just feel so bad for them. And the mood here is very depressing. And I'm pretty sure if they have to layoff anyone else, I'm next.

I had to term a coworker 6 months ago, I still have not bounced back. I knew an hour before he did. I felt like total shit. Some of these people I worked with for 6+ years..

[limey]

I think it is completely appropriate to go to your boss, tell her/him that you are concerned about the layoffs and ask if your job is secure.

I've done that twice and gotten honest answers both times.

[hbomdiggity]

FIL was laid off yesterday. 27 years there. No skills to fall back on. I don't know what will happen.

[Deleted]

Hope you will be okay noodleoo. I work for a small company and they handle it that way also. Is there a manager or direct supervisor you can talk to to get a feel for your situation?

[chessie]

Nov 28, 2012 11:15:48 GMT -5 hbomdiggity said:

FIL was laid off yesterday. 27 years there. No skills to fall back on. I don't know what will happen.

I am sorry.

I can tell you from experience my dad had to deal with this 2 times, first time 23 years and the other 5 years at the second place. You bounce back, take less money obviously. Surprisingly through the whole thing he was relatively very positive, more then I would be. Through being laid off he was able to go through some state programs since the jobs where he was at were being moved over seas and through these programs was able to get education for aspects of his industry that were staying in the US.

[noodleoo]

Sorry hbomdiggity.

We had a meeting after the layoffs and our CEO said there may be more. Our CTO is taking a reduced schedule/paycut. He said we were supposed to lose 3 employees, but they saved the third. He looked at me when he said this. I asked my H if I should ask if it was me, but he told me not to. I'm pretty sure if they layoff another it will be me, and it will be in the timeframe of 3-6 months. I think my job is secure at least until then (we'll find out about some grant money in 3 months). I plan to start job searching soon, but I'm scared bc I've been here 10 years and don't really know how to job search. A new job will also probably mean a pay cut, so I'd don't want to jump the gun too fast (just in case we do get the grant and things turn around here).

Any advice? What should I start doing now? The good thing is my H just got a new job that is pretty secure and we have a 6 month e-fund. Phew.

[chessie]

I would brush up your resume, linkedlin accounts and your your resume out there to recruiters. Start networking. Its easier to get a job when you have one obviously. I would look up any UE information, how to go about that, and maybe what sort of severance package your company provides. I know ours its lists on our benefits page.

[whitepicketfence]

How scary. I'm so sorry. That really does suck

Here's hoping that your job will be safe, noodle.

[luvmagoldn]

I know it's hard to lose co-workers but I can tell you that the way the layoff was carried out is pretty standard. It's difficult for those left behind for a number of reasons but one I hear often (I'm in HR) is that no one got to say goodbye. But think about it - if you were just notified that you no longer had a job, would you want to be paraded around for a good-bye tour? That's not helpful to the person being let go. Their heads are spinning and usually they just want to get home and process the information.

[Melissa W.]

Nov 28, 2012 11:12:16 GMT -5 chessie said:

Nov 28, 2012 11:11:25 GMT -5 noodleoo said:

Ok, I guess it is normal. Sigh. I just feel so bad for them. And the mood here is very depressing. And I'm pretty sure if they have to layoff anyone else, I'm next.

I had to term a coworker 6 months ago, I still have not bounced back. I knew an hour before he did. I felt like total shit. Some of these people I worked with for 6+ years..

Part of my job includes knowing layoffs before they happen. It is gut wrenching especially when they are waffling over it.

[mbcdefg]

My supervisor (whom i liked very much) just got the boot, a couple weeks after her own supervisor was let go.

The bigwigs are saying that no more changes are planned, but they said that after the first person was let go. I'm scared.

[whitepicketfence]

Nov 28, 2012 11:15:48 GMT -5 hbomdiggity said:

FIL was laid off yesterday. 27 years there. No skills to fall back on. I don't know what will happen.

That's awful

[noodleoo]

RNV: I'll send you a PM.

ETA: sent!

[Deleted]

We went thru multiple rounds of that at my old job. Certain people were brought into one room, told they were being let go, given their packets and then just before they escorted them to their desks to pack up their things, they would have everyone else go into another conference room to tell us they were gone. It is very shocking.

[vtdiamond]

Noodleoo - So sorry to hear, that is so scary.

I agree with Rock, start looking now. If there is anything I can do to help, let me know.

((Hugs))

[flygirl22]

I'm so sorry.

I work at a big company but in a very unstable industry. We go through layoffs pretty frequently. Being so big though, they give anyone getting layed off a 60 day notice. I guess they aren't too worried about people retaliating?? Often times, people find new jobs within the same company (different divisions etc).

I think it's fairly common practice to do what they did, but yea.. it's shitty

[Deleted]

Do you know it was for financial reasons? My company has laid off a lot of people in the last couple of years, but I think many of them were because we're "heading in a new direction" or some other crap that isn't about finances. They are always a surprise and there have been too many of them to think it was for performance issues.

[abramos]

ugh. I am sorry. We did a major RIF (reduction in force) in September and it SUCKED.

[randp]

Nov 28, 2012 12:20:16 GMT -5 flygirl22 said:

I'm so sorry.

I work at a big company but in a very unstable industry. We go through layoffs pretty frequently. Being so big though, they give anyone getting layed off a 60 day notice. I guess they aren't too worried about people retaliating?? Often times, people find new jobs within the same company (different divisions etc).

I think it's fairly common practice to do what they did, but yea.. it's shitty

I think the 60 day notice is in compliance with the WARN Act. It is for large companies who are doing "massive layoffs" or plant closings. The 60 day notice can be either working or non-working notice, but you get paid either way.

[SusanBAnthony]

Nov 28, 2012 12:20:16 GMT -5 flygirl22 said:

I'm so sorry.

I work at a big company but in a very unstable industry. We go through layoffs pretty frequently. Being so big though, they give anyone getting layed off a 60 day notice. I guess they aren't too worried about people retaliating?? Often times, people find new jobs within the same company (different divisions etc).

I think it's fairly common practice to do what they did, but yea.. it's shitty

When I was laid off (big company) you always got six weeks paid to try to find another job within the company.

DH has been laid off from a couple small companies (once the whole company folded) and it was pretty casual- finish up the week, or even allowed to keep using the office space to job hunt. Once he was laid off from the same big company I worked for, but as a contractor. He was asked to meet his boss for a quick meeting at the end of the day in a room right near the front door, and she escorted him right out the door, and he got to pick up a box of his stuff the next day. It was so odd to me that he didn't get his stuff right away.

So, it depends.

I am sorry. Obviously we have been through this a lot in my family, and it sucks so so so much. You guys all have my sympathy.

[noodleoo]

They said it was for financial reasons. But they basically let half our R&D team go. That was the reason they gave us: ran out of funding and didn't have the money to keep on the R&D.

[drloretta]

That sucks.

There really is no "normal", or "good" way to do layoffs. i've seen it done different ways and it's ugly no matter what.

[chessie]

Nov 28, 2012 13:09:45 GMT -5 noodleoo said:

They said it was for financial reasons. But they basically let half our R&D team go. That was the reason they gave us: ran out of funding and didn't have the money to keep on the R&D.

Business decision, which I hate and I get it. They have to make money some how by cutting X somewhere, to make y..

Hugs though. I have to go through cutting around 200 people a week before xmas, I will need a bottle of xanex just to get through it.